Romantic intrigue, financial speculation, satire in the medical profession, a social commentary on the status of women, are all delivered in de Maupassant’s ‘Mont-Oriol’, a masterpiece appeared in 1887.
Young bride Christiane arrives in Auvergne to ‘take the waters’ in a spa with her husband, described as ‘a sickly flower, or a sucking pig with its hair shaved off.’ But rather than the relaxing family vacation she expects, she finds herself the centre of a conspiracy between her father, the Marquis, and the ‘fossil’ medical team in an effort to solve the problem of a lack of heir. Suddenly the discovery of a new spa throws the resort into disarray and brings a lowly family to prominence.